You can't just paint Southeast Michigan with one big automobile brush. We are the Great Lake State after all, and Metro Detroit's got a vibrant marina culture to show for it. From Wyandotte to St. Clair Shores, Terry Parris Jr. samples life by the water.
Giant haunted houses, a popular renaissance festival, Theatre Bizarre, and now LARP. Metro Detroit is home to a surprising number of fantastical past times, drawing eclectic and enthusiastic crowds. But more than just dress up, Live Action Role Playing is a full immersion experience.
Youngstown is like Detroit's Mini Me. The small, Ohio, former steel-belt city has seen disinvestment, a quickly shrinking population, vacancy and blight. Youngstown's leadership, however, has engaged the community and created a definitive plan to turn the city around. They are thinking big by acting small.
Downtown Birmingham's buttoned-up rep for professional offices and trendy boutiques only tells part of the story. Amidst the doctors, lawyers and financial consultants, Old Woodward's second story houses a little-seen collection of new economy businesses. From sports agents to "an incubator on steroids" Terry Parris Jr. uncovers the people you might not meet every day.
Adversity is the mother of invention. Or so they say. And Michigan is proving them true. While the rest of the country has seen a decline in business formation, cities like Ann Arbor are experiencing a start-up spike.
His labor is a chant, His idleness a tune; Oh, for a bee's experience Of clovers and of noon!-Emily DickinsonSpring will soon be sprung and local fields will be busy with more bees than ever. Metro Detroit bee keepers are growing their hobby into a honey of an industry.
Detroit property is cheap. Not just cheap, it's really, really cheap, and abundant. The Euro is stronger than the dollar and that bodes well for foreign investors. They can pick up property along the riverfront or right downtown for the price of a small car.
It was only a matter of time before pizza went high-tech. From web tracking to on demand orders from your TiVo, Ann Arbor-based Domino's has created a brave new world of snarfing.
Walking through Royal Oak's downtown it's hard not to notices the bars, restaurants and shops that have popped up over the last decade. But do you ever wonder what's going on upstairs? Terry Parris Jr. visits Main Street's second story and discovers a community of new economy creatives. And lots of cereal boxes.
Long gone are the business card swap meets at the local Howard Johnson's. Welcome to the new millennium, where entrepreneurs, CEOs, creatives, and climbers Tweetup for drinks. On almost any day of the week you can find young, professional Metro Detroiters getting together to hang out. Cards and ties are optional.
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